The present invention relates to a recording/reproducing apparatus and a method thereof, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method which, when reproducing a plurality of video and audio signals simultaneously from a recording medium, are capable of displaying, in reduced dimensions, reproduced images of the video signals together with the video signals anterior and posterior in time thereto, hence enabling a user to rapidly grasp the recorded contents in the recording medium.
In retrieving video data of a plurality of channels recorded in a recording medium, there is contrived a technique that divides an index screen into a plurality of small screens arranged in the form of a lattice and displays, in such small screens respectively, the reproduced images obtained through digested reproduction which reads out the video data at a predetermined interval. According to this technique, the data can be retrieved by searching a desired location of a predetermined channel in a cue (fast forward) reproduction mode or a review (rewind) reproduction mode.
However, there has been a problem in such related art heretofore that, when the fast reproduced images are displayed on the small screens in a lattice-like arrangement, the temporal relationship among the images is not graspable with facility to consequently bring about difficulty in searching the desired location.
Further, the reproduced images displayed on small screens need to be enlarged, at the time of display, after being read out through access to the recording medium, hence raising another problem that the load is rendered greater in proportion to an increase of the number of such small screens.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to realize rapid and easy search of a desired location relative to video data of a plurality of channels recorded in a recording medium.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing apparatus as defined in the appended claim 1 which comprises read means for reading out video data; designation means for selectively designating a reproduction speed; and control means for controlling, in accordance with the reproduction speed designated by the designation means, the interval at which the read means reads out the video data.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing apparatus as defined in the appended claim 3 which comprises read means for reading out video data successively at a predetermined interval; reduced display control means for executing, on a predetermined screen, simultaneous time-series display of reduced images obtained by dimensionally reducing the images which correspond to a predetermined number of video data read out by the read means; and alteration means for gradually altering, in a forward reproduction mode, each reduced image to the time-serially posterior reduced image, or gradually altering, in a reverse reproduction mode, each reduced image to the time-serially anterior reduced image.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing apparatus as defined in the appended claim 4 which comprises designation means for selectively designating a reproduction speed; first read means for successively reading out video data at a predetermined read interval; decision means for deciding, in accordance with the reproduction speed designated by the designation means, the interval at which the first read means reads out the video data; second read means for reading out incidental data indicative of the kind of the video data; and change means for changing the video data reading interval of the first read means on the basis of the incidental data read out by the second read means and the reading interval corresponding to the reproduction speed decided by the decision means.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing apparatus as defined in the appended claim 6 which comprises read means for reading out, at a predetermined interval, video data recorded in a recording medium; reduction means for dimensionally reducing images corresponding to the video data read out by the read means; display control means for displaying the reduced images, which are obtained from the reduction means, on a plurality of small screens set on a predetermined screen; and storage means prepared equally in number to such small screens so as to store the video data corresponding to the reduced images to be displayed respectively on the small screens. In this apparatus, when the video data corresponding to the next reduced images to be displayed on the relevant small screens are stored in the storage means, the display control means displays the reduced images, which correspond to the video data stored in the storage means and are to be displayed next, on the relevant small screens respectively.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing method as defined in the appended claim 9 which comprises the steps of reading out video data; then designating a data reproduction speed selectively; and controlling a video-data reading interval in accordance with the designated reproduction speed.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing method as defined in the appended claim 9 which comprises the steps of reading out video data at a predetermined interval; then executing, on a predetermined screen, simultaneous time-series display of reduced images obtained by dimensionally reducing images which correspond to a predetermined number of video data read out by the read means; and gradually altering, in a forward reproduction mode, each reduced image to the time-serially posterior reduced image, or gradually altering, in a reverse reproduction mode, each reduced image to the time-serially anterior reduced image.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing method as defined in the appended claim 10 which comprises the steps of selectively designating a reproduction speed; then successively reading out video data at a predetermined read interval; subsequently deciding the video-data reading interval in accordance with the designated reproduction speed; thereafter reading out incidental data indicative of the kind of the video data; and changing the video-data reading interval on the basis of the incidental data thus read out and the reading interval corresponding to the decided reproduction speed.
And according to an eighth aspect of the invention, there is provided a recording/reproducing method as defined in the appended claim 11 which comprises the steps of reading out, at a predetermined interval, video data recorded in a recording medium; then dimensionally reducing images corresponding to the video data thus read out; subsequently displaying the reduced images on a plurality of small screens set on a predetermined screen; thereafter storing the video data corresponding to the reduced images to be displayed respectively on the small screens and, when the video data corresponding to the next reduced images to be displayed on the relevant small screens are stored, displaying the reduced images, which correspond to the stored video data to be displayed next, on the relevant small screens respectively.
In the recording/reproducing apparatus of the appended claim 1, the read means reads out the video data, and the designation means selectively designates a reproduction speed. And subsequently the control means controls, in accordance with the reproduction speed designated by the designation means, the interval at which the read means reads out the video data.
In the recording/reproducing apparatus of the appended claim 3, the read means reads out the video data successively at a predetermined interval, and the reduced display control means executes, on a predetermined screen, simultaneous time-series display of the reduced images obtained by dimensionally reducing the images which correspond to a predetermined number of video data read out by the read means. And the alteration means gradually alters, in a forward reproduction mode, each reduced image to the time-serially posterior reduced image, or gradually alters, in a reverse reproduction mode, each reduced image to the time-serially anterior reduced image.
In the recording/reproducing apparatus of the appended claim 4, the designation means selectively designates a reproduction speed, and the first read means successively reads out video data at a predetermined read interval. Subsequently the decision means decides, in accordance with the reproduction speed designated by the designation means, the interval at which the first read means reads out the video data, and the second read means reads out incidental data indicative of the kind of the video data. And thereafter the change means changes the video data reading interval of the first read means on the basis of the incidental data read out the second read means and the reading interval corresponding to the reproduction speed decided by the decision means.
In the recording/reproducing apparatus of the appended claim 6, the read means reads out, at a predetermined interval, the video data recorded on a recording medium, and the reduction means dimensionally reduces the images corresponding to the video data read out by the read means. Subsequently the display control means displays the reduced images, which are obtained from the reduction means, on a plurality of small screens set on a predetermined screen, and the storage means prepared equally in number to such small screens store the video data corresponding to the reduced images to be displayed respectively on the small screens. In this apparatus, when the video data corresponding to the next reduced images to be displayed on the relevant small screens are stored in the storage means, the display control means displays the reduced images, which correspond to the video data stored in the storage means and are to be displayed next, on the relevant small screens respectively.
In the recording/reproducing method of the appended claim 9, when video data are read out, the video data reading interval is controlled in accordance with the designated reproduction speed.
In the recording/reproducing method of the appended claim 9, video data are read out successively at a predetermined interval, and then simultaneous time-series display is executed, on a predetermined screen, with regard to reduced images obtained by dimensionally reducing the images which correspond to a predetermined number of the video data read out by the read means. And in a forward reproduction mode, each reduced image is gradually altered to the time-serially posterior reduced image. Meanwhile in a reverse reproduction mode, each reduced image is gradually altered to the time-serially anterior reduced image.
In the recording/reproducing method of the appended claim 10, a reproduction speed is selectively designated, and then video data are read out successively at a predetermined read interval. Subsequently the video-data reading interval is decided in accordance with the designated reproduction speed, and thereafter incidental data indicative of the kind of the video data is read out. And the video data reading interval is changed on the basis of the incidental data thus read out and the reading interval corresponding to the decided reproduction speed.
And in the recording/reproducing method of the appended claim 11, video data recorded in a recording medium are read out at a predetermined interval, and then images corresponding to the video data thus read out are dimensionally reduced. Subsequently the reduced images are displayed on a plurality of small screens set on a predetermined screen, and the video data corresponding to the reduced images to be displayed respectively on the relevant small screens are stored. And when the video data corresponding to the next reduced images to be displayed on the small screens are stored, the reduced images, which are to be displayed next and correspond to the stored video data, are displayed on the relevant small screens respectively.
Thus, according to the apparatus and the method of the present invention where the data reading interval is controlled in conformity with the designated reproduction speed, the reproduction interval can be changed properly to thereby suppress the user""s eye strain with efficient retrieval of the video data.
Also according to the apparatus and the method of the invention where the video data are read out successively at a predetermined interval, simultaneous time-series display is executed, on a predetermined screen, with regard to reduced images obtained by dimensionally reducing the images which correspond to a predetermined number of the video data read out by the read means. And in a forward reproduction mode, each reduced image is gradually altered to the time-serially posterior reduced image, while in a reverse reproduction mode, each reduced image is gradually altered to the time-serially anterior reduced image. As a result, easy retrieval of desired video data is achievable on the basis of the positional relationship to the anterior and posterior video data.
Further according to the apparatus and the method of the invention where a reproduction speed is selectively designated and the video data are read out successively at a predetermined read interval, the video data reading interval is decided in accordance with the designated reproduction speed, and thereafter incidental data indicative of the kind of the video data is read out. And the video data reading interval is changed on the basis of the incidental data thus read out and the reading interval corresponding to the decided reproduction speed. Therefore, it becomes possible to eliminate display of any unnecessary image such as a commercial to consequently realize efficient retrieval of desired video data.
And still further according to the apparatus and the method of the invention where video data recorded in a recording medium are read out at a predetermined interval and the images corresponding to the video data thus read out are dimensionally reduced, the reduced images are displayed on a plurality of small screens set on a predetermined screen, and subsequently the video data corresponding to the reduced images to be displayed respectively on the relevant small screens are stored. And when the video data corresponding to the next reduced images to be displayed on the small screens are stored, the reduced images, which are to be displayed next and correspond to the stored video data, are displayed on the relevant small screens respectively, whereby required accesses to the recording medium can be minimized to eventually enhance the response.
The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description which will be given with reference to the illustrative accompanying drawings.